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A flamboyant Mexican fan gets into gear for his country's World Cup clash with Sweden in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday.
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Jason Cairnduff/ Reuters

Six things about SA you need to know

‘K-word businessman’ to ask for discharge

Businessman Peter-Paul Ngwenya‚ who is facing a charge of crimen injuria for allegedly calling Investec CEO designate Fani Titi the k-word‚ will apply to be discharged on Thursday. Ngwenya’s advocate‚ Benny Buthelezi‚ told the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday Ngwenya would bring the application in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which provides for the accused to be discharged if the court is of the opinion that there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence on the charge sheet. This came after magistrate Pravina Rugoonandan dismissed the defence’s application to ask the prosecution to reopen the case so that Buthelezi could recall two state witnesses to re-examine them. The conflict between Ngwenya and Titi‚ who had been friends for 20 years‚ stems from a multimillion-rand deal that went sour. Ngwenya claims Titi owes him close to R54-million.

Man accused of murdering 6-year-old in court

The attitude displayed by the man accused of murdering six-year-old Stacy Adams evoked fury in family members during his first appearance on Wednesday. The 26-year-old scoffed at photographers snapping pictures of his face after the full gallery in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court heard that he had a pending murder case and three assault cases against him‚ including one with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The man was arrested on Sunday after a community search party found Stacey's body in a shallow grave behind the Wendy house he lived in. She had been reported missing on Saturday. Police used rubber bullets to disperse residents and escorted the suspect away in an armoured Nyala, as tensions spilled over. He is charged with rape and murder in this case. The case was postponed to July 24.

Knysna sacrifices mayoral vehicle

Knysna mayor Mark Willemse‚ announcing cost-cutting measures for his office‚ says he will cancel and return the rented mayoral vehicle. The move will save about R14‚000 a month in the operational budget of the mayor's office. This excludes the savings in staff costs for the driver‚ the Knysna municipality announced on social media this week. In January‚ the municipality “invited quotations” from suitable service providers for the hire of a Toyota Rav4 or similar for up to six months. Willemse is in the middle of a fight with his own party‚ the Democratic Alliance, and has rejected the party’s calls for him to step down.

Teacher who lied about having cancer sent to jail

A once popular and respected IT teacher at a private school in Hilton just outside Pietermaritzburg‚ who lied that she had cancer and was dying‚ was sentenced to an effective five years in jail on Wednesday for stealing more than R2-million from the school through false invoicing. Vindra Jaickaran Chhoteylal Moodley‚ 49‚ who taught at Cowan House Preparatory School‚ pleaded guilty in the Durban Commercial Crime Court earlier this year to 74 counts of fraud. She admitted that in 2014 she lied to the school that she had been diagnosed with cancer and only had four months to live. While sympathy for her was high‚ she was stealing from the school’s funds by producing false invoices for the purchase and maintenance of computer hardware and software. In handing down a sentence of 10 years‚ half of which was suspended‚ magistrate Judy Naidoo said Moodley had betrayed those who trusted her.

Relative arrested for rape, murder of KZN toddler

A KwaZulu-Natal mother said she felt sick to her stomach when she learnt that police had arrested a close relative for the horrific rape and murder of her 18-month-old daughter. The suspect appeared in the Esikhawini Magistrate’s Court on Monday for a bail application. Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the man faces charges of murder and rape. The case was postponed to July 23 and he remains in custody. Two days after the child’s death last week‚ the grieving mother received a call from the toddler’s father to tell her police had arrested a relative in connection with her rape and murder.

Interracial slur ends in hard work for Facebooker

An unconditional apology and undertaking to complete 100 hours of community service is the outcome for a KwaZulu-Natal woman who posted several offensive‚ hurtful and discriminatory comments on Facebook. Stephanie Odendaal must also make a damages payment of R7‚000‚ to be donated to two non-profit organisations in KZN. These terms were contained in a settlement agreement‚ which has been accepted by the Equality Court‚ according to the South African Human Rights Commission. It said Odendaal had made comments based on race‚ which had been directed at Pamela MacDougall “and persons involved and/or engaging in mixed-race relationships in general”.

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SIX THINGS ABOUT THE WORLD YOU NEED TO KNOW

Think we’ve got it bad? Try Mexico

Voters around the world have been known to complain their politicians are crooks, but Mexico takes it to a whole new level, with multiple current or former prison inmates running for office in Sunday’s elections. What’s more, even though many voters say crime and corruption are their top concerns, some of these candidates appear to have a good chance of winning. Francisco Lopez is running for mayor of San Carlos, Tamaulipas from a jail cell, where he is being held on murder charges. Ex-footballer Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who is now running for governor of Morelos state, is accused of corruption, embezzlement, forgery and involvement in organised crime. Blanco, 45, is currently the mayor of state capital Cuernavaca. “I’m not like this current batch of bastards” in power, he said in launching his campaign. — AFP

There’s something odd about women’s nipples

The nipples of women are far more varied than those of men, according to an unusual study that challenges a widely held view among evolutionary biologists: it says the more important a body part, the less it will differ from person to person. Which brings us to the study on nipples at the University of Queensland in Australia. Female nipples are designed with a fundamental purpose: nursing newborns. If the theory is right, then there should be less variation among female nipples than the pointless teats adorning the male chest. To find out if the “function-first” rule holds for nipples, Kelly’s team scanned and measured the teats and nipples of 63 volunteers. As Kelly suspected, the results did not conform to theory. “We found that female nipples were significantly more variable than male nipples,” said Kelly. “This finding discredits previous studies that indicate variation in a specific feature indicates a lack of functionality.” — AFP

Irish ‘Nope to the Pope’ boycott of papal visit

Thousands of Irish campaigners are mobilising online for a boycott of Pope Francis’s visit in August, pledging to book free tickets to an open-air mass and then stay away. The Catholic Church’s influence has waned following multiple abuse scandals in Ireland. The pontiff is visiting Ireland on August 25 and 26, culminating in a giant mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. The “Say Nope to the Pope” Facebook group, which has 5,000 supporters, intends to keep the turnout down by snapping up as many of the 500,000 free tickets as possible. Pope Francis visits the Republic of Ireland three months after 66% voted in a referendum to lift a constitutional ban on abortion. Three years ago, 62% voted to legalise same-sex marriage. The last papal visit to Ireland was in 1979, when a million people attended a mass by John Paul II in Phoenix Park.— AFP

Did St George really look like Tintin?

A Spanish church was under fire on Wednesday over the “frightening” restoration of a 16th century wooden sculpture which left it looking like a cartoon character. The statue of St George charging a horse in the San Miguel church in the town of Estella had turned a dark brown with age but images shared online after its restoration showed the warrior now has a pink face and sports flashy red armour. Some Twitters users likened the restored statue to Belgian comic character Tintin or Woody from ‘Toy Story’, and compared it to the botched restoration by an elderly parishioner of the ‘Ecce Homo’ fresco of Jesus Christ in 2012 in the town of Borja which resembled a pale-faced ape with cartoon-style eyes. — AFP

Airbnb, Uber woes show Japan hates to share

Thousands of Airbnb reservations scrapped, Uber reduced to delivering food: life is hard in Japan for giants of the sharing economy. Japan has been surprisingly slow to warm to the sharing economy that has disrupted markets across the globe. Only 2.7% of the population are familiar with the concept of a sharing economy, according to a 2017 survey by PwC. Public opinion is said to be very much against services like Airbnb and Uber. One reason is that Japanese are very protective of their privacy. The culture of sharing is not ingrained in society and — in the case of Airbnb — they do not like the noise and security risk caused by a procession of tourists in their backyard. In addition, hailing a taxi in a major city rarely takes more than a few seconds, lowering demand for Uber-type services. — AFP